Hi. Welcome to Epiblast! The name is partly inspired by PZ Myers famous blog, Pharyngula partly by the fact that the epiblast, a simple tissue in a developing embryo (labelled 5), gives rise, eventually, to virtually everything inside our body. It's a metaphor for how some of our simple, fundamental ideas vastly affect the other aspects of our life. This blog covers my interests; usually science, medicine, atheism, religion. I might sneak in a bit of philosophy or magic if I feel like it. I warn you, the discussion gets uncomfortable and I come to conclusions which are unconventional, maybe contradictory to yours. Don't go crying to someone if you are offended.

Particularly in the USA there are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around about how H1N1 vaccines are a huge conspiracy by Big Pharma to keep people sick. I lean towards the side that mocks the conspiracy theorists. So I'm putting my money where my mouth is and I just got a flu jab today. The H1N1 kind. Prior to the vaccine I have been having a slight sore throat and a mildly painful left knee. Twelve hours post innoculaion, no visible redness at the injection site but a slight tenderness to touch and abduction of the arm. We'll see how it goes =)